


Moth Into Flame

by notevenstars_lastforever



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria - Freeform, Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Curses, Episode: s06e16 Last Day on Earth, Episode: s07e01 The Day Will Come When You Won't Be, Excessive use of the word fuck, F/M, Gen, Gore, Kidnapping, Lucille is a vampire bat, Multi, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead), Negan is an automatic warning (Walking Dead), Other, Protective Daryl Dixon, Psychological Torture, Sarcasm, Sexual innuendos, Some Humor, Swearing, The Hilltop (Walking Dead), The Kingdom (Walking Dead), The Sanctuary (Walking Dead), Torture, and I mean lots, lots of f-bombs, saviors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:41:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28642380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notevenstars_lastforever/pseuds/notevenstars_lastforever
Summary: The mission to get Maggie to the Hilltop does not go as planned and things go from zero to one hundred really fast.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Reader, Daryl Dixon/You, Negan (Walking Dead)/You
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	1. Surrounded.

It was eerily quiet as we quickly made our way along the path through the woods, the only sound to be heard was the crunching of gravel underneath our boots. 

Sasha, Rick, Aaron & Abraham each supported one side of Maggie's stretcher while Carl and I walked ahead and covered them, making sure to clear the way of any walkers we came across. 

It was a particularly cold night---cold enough that I could see my breath coming out in wisps in front of me. The cold air bit into my skin, sending shivers down my spine and goosebumps trailing up my arms, which did absolutely nothing to calm my anxiety that had been steadily rising throughout our journey to the Hilltop. 

Trekking through the woods at night and leaving Eugene alone to drive the RV was definitely not the most ideal choice but it was the last shot we had at making it to the community and getting Maggie some medical attention, which she desperately needed. So despite being on edge and bristling from my nerves, I kept going because Maggie was family and I would stop at nothing to get her to safety. 

To make matters worse, there was a slight cloud of fog that seemed to be creeping in, threatening to engulf us; yet another thing trying to deter us from getting to our destination. 

"Aaron…" I heard Maggie speak softly. "Please, just let me walk in." 

I felt my chest tighten and glanced over, seeing Aaron staring down at Maggie with an intense look in his eyes. 

"Relax, just a few more miles." 

I jogged up to Aaron and fell in step with him, looking over his shoulder to gaze upon Maggie, mustering up a slight smile. 

"You're gonna be just fine, Mags. We won't let anything happen to you, scouts honor." 

To add extra emphasis, I held up three fingers for her to see, causing her to let out a croak of laughter. 

"It don't count when you were never a scout, Y/N." Abraham chimed in, offering me a teasing look. 

"Yeah, well, it's the thought that counts." I said with a soft laugh, feeling just a little bit of my anxiety slip away with the exchange, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to Maggie's head. 

Continuing forward, we fell into silence for a few minutes before Carl broke it as he addressed his father. 

"I heard what you told her, when we were leaving," He sighed before continuing. "We  _ can _ do anything 'cause we'll do anything we need to do. We have and we will. What happened to Denise, I'm not gonna let anyone die like that again." 

"Son…" Rick started. 

"What?" 

Then, before Rick could speak again, the sound of someone whistling caught everyone's attention, causing us to stop dead in our tracks and glance off in the direction we heard it coming from. 

"What the actual fuck..." I mumbled under my breath, raising my gun. 

Suddenly, another one was heard in the complete opposite direction, as more and more began to join in, coming from all around us. 

That's when I realized we had just wandered straight into a trap and I felt my heart drop straight down to my stomach. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and snapped my head around towards it, catching sight of several dark figures moving amongst the trees and shrubbery that surrounded us. 

"Mother fucker." Abraham cursed from behind me, looking over my shoulder at what I was seeing. 

I made eye contact with Sasha, seeing the terror I felt mirrored in her eyes. As I took in her expression, I instantly sobered up and tried my best to push the fear to the back of my mind, knowing that I needed to be strong right now and muster up the courage to keep going despite being scared out of my wits. 

"We gotta move." I said suddenly, surprised at how steady my voice was and turning my gaze towards Rick. 

His face was pale, almost like he had just seen a ghost and I knew I probably looked the same but nonetheless, he snapped out of momentary stupor and nodded rapidly, agreeing with my statement. 

"Go! Go!" He whisper yelled. 

Without a moment of hesitation we all took off, running through the woods. Carl took over for Aaron as he and Sasha broke away from carrying the stretcher, opting to get their weapons out and protect the rest of the group with me. We ran alongside Rick, Carl and Abraham as they ran as fast as they could while carrying Maggie. 

My breath was coming out in ragged gasps, my eyes searching and glancing around wildly, keeping my defenses up and letting the feeling of adrenaline rush through me. 

I saw a clearing up ahead and we all rushed towards it, hoping and praying for some kind of fucking miracle. But as he reached the edge of the woods, a ray of blinding light that came from the headlights of a vehicle was flipped on and we all skidded to a halt, arms coming up to shield our eyes. 

After a few moments, I slowly and cautiously lowered my arm, my eyes squinting and trying to adjust to the sudden light shining on us like a spotlight. As my eyes began to adjust, my heart rate spiked up, almost like it was threatening to burst out of my chest and I tried to process the sight I saw before me. 

_ Saviors. And a whole fuck ton of them at that.  _

They had us surrounded, more men than I could count and probably more waiting in the shadows. My friends were all just as dumbfounded and shocked as I was, eyes widened and trying to maintain composure while glancing around at the crowd closing in on us. 

The six of us stood in formation, everyone creating a protective circle around the stretcher Maggie was laid on. Keeping our guns raised and at the ready, we glanced around at all the men surrounding us, the sound of their simultaneous whistling reaching an almost deafening pitch that made my ears ring painfully. 

When I scanned the perimeter, looking at everyone surrounding our small group, my eyes came to rest on a familiar looking figure kneeling on the ground. 

_ Eugene.  _

His face was splattered with blood, which led me to believe he had taken some kind of beating and he was shaking slightly, causing my jaw to clench in both sorrow and anger at seeing my friend like this. As my eyes trailed away, I caught sight of the RV parked a short distance away, which confirmed my suspicions of Eugene being ambushed by these mother fuckers. 

I stood my ground and tried to keep my face looking stoic as ever even though I was freaking the fuck out internally. I wanted so badly to light each and everyone one of those fuckers up but I knew we were greatly outnumbered which sent a feeling of panic rippling through my system. 

When I finally made eye contact with Rick and caught the extremely uncharacteristic look of panic on his face, I knew that we were undeniably  _ fucked _ . 

"Good, you made it!" The man Rick had spoken with earlier from the first road block walked out of the shadows and into the light with a cocky smirk on his face. "Welcome to where you're going." 

I couldn't stop myself as I trained my gun on him instinctively, aiming a murderous look his way. 

He chuckled, his eyes flickering over to meet mine and raised his own gun towards me. "We'll take your weapons...now." 

"Like hell you will!" I snarled, about to step forward and give this guy a piece of my mind, but being held back by Abraham when he yanked me backwards by my shirt. 

The sounds of several firearms being cocked all around us was heard and I knew they were all trained on me without even having to look, which caused more anger to flare up inside of me. 

Who the fuck do these people think they are?!

I looked at the dick head with the porno mustache and scowled, feeling outraged. 

"You've gotta be out of your fu---" 

Abraham elbowed me roughly in my ribs, instantly cutting me off from what I was about to say and sending me a warning look. With clenched teeth, I shook my head but listened nonetheless and tried my absolute best to keep my mouth shut. 

Unfortunately, it was apparent that mustache dude had heard me as he stepped towards me, stopping only a foot away as he stared down at me with a borderline psychotic look in his eyes and a smile that honestly spoked me quite a bit. 

"It would do you good to keep your pretty little mouth shut,  _ darlin' _ . You're in no position to be runnin' it like you have. We're calling the shots now, so give up your weapons and don't make me say it again." 

"We can talk about it---" Rick started to say, but he was immediately interrupted. 

"We're done talking. Time to listen." 

As he said this, a bunch of the men surrounding us started to advance, taking almost everything that we had on us, especially our weapons and anything we could possibly use to defend ourselves. 

I hesitated as two guys approached me, turning stiff as a board and sending threatening looks to both of them before a man came up behind me and forcefully yanked my gun strap from over my shoulder and took it. I angrily relented and gave up the rest of my weapons after that, reluctantly removing the revolver from my pocket and taking my machete from it's holster at my side. They frisked me quickly, searching for anymore possible hidden weapons on me before walking away once they found nothing else. 

I felt my protective instincts kicking in once again when I saw none other than King Fuck himself crouched down in front of Carl so he was eye level with him and it took all of my self restraint not to launch myself at him like a rabid animal. I couldn't hear what was said but I knew he had been successful in pissing Carl off, based off of the boy's angered expression. 

The asshole flicked Carl's hat before straightening up and standing at his full intimidating height, turning to address the rest of us. 

_ Son of a bitch, if I could wipe that smile off his fucking face without any deadly repercussions, I would do so in a heart beat. _

"Okay, now let's get her down," He gestured to Maggie, who was still laid out on her stretcher. "And get you all on your knees! Lots to cover!" 

As two men suddenly came over towards the stretcher, I frowned and stood in front of them, blocking them from getting to Maggie, shaking my head at them. 

"Not you guys." I snapped, glaring daggers at them. 

"We've got it." Abraham agreed, backing me up on this. 

"Sure, sure." 

I watched as the two guys reluctantly backed off before turning to help my friends to lower the stretcher to the ground and gently hoist Maggie up to her feet. Abraham and Rick took over from there, grabbing one of her arms each and walking her over to where they wanted us, which happened to be over in front of the RV they had snatched from us. Sasha, Aaron, Carl and I followed behind them slowly. 

My heart ached for Maggie when I heard her struggling for breath as she staggered forward with obvious difficulty, looking so weak and frail like one strong gust of wind could knock her over. Rick and Abraham slowly lowered her to the ground to her knees, Abraham following suit and holding on to Maggie, making sure she stayed steady while Rick remained on his feet. Seconds later, a few men drug Eugene over to where we were, pushing him to the ground to his knees as well. I flinched when I heard his pained yelp and turned to throw a dirty look at the culprits. 

"Gonna need you on your knees." The nameless fuck said to Rick as he stood in front of him, voice firm. 

At first, Rick said nothing, just staring him down. I could practically feel his emotions going completely haywire as he hesitated to do what he said because if there was one thing I knew about Rick, it was that he didn't like to be told what to do. Rick Grimes doesn't take too kindly to people barking orders at him. 

He turned, making eye contact with Carl first and then looking around at the rest of us before reluctantly lowering himself and kneeling on the ground, looking up at the man coldly. 

To be honest, I never thought I'd see the day when Rick would follow directions instead of giving them and it made my heart hurt. 

I glanced over at Sasha, noticing her falling to her knees too and decided to do the same, much to my own dismay. As Aaron and Carl slowly followed the same example, I grudgingly did as well, settling down between Rick and Sasha but making damn sure to give  _ mother fucker  _ the dirtiest look I could muster up as I did so. 

"Go get the other ones, right now! Dwight!" The tall Savior called. 

_ Other ones? What the hell did he mean by that? And also, Dwight? Oh, that son of a bitch. He was the one who killed Denise!  _

"Yeah." 

"Chop Chop!" 

Sure enough as I glanced over to my right, I caught sight of a familiar mop of messy blonde hair coming into view as Dwight walked out from the shadows with Daryl's stolen crossbow slung over his shoulder. I set my jaw, narrowing my eyes at him in anger. 

As if sensing my eyes on him, he looked over and met my gaze, giving me a slight smirk and a nod, letting me know he remembered me from the railroad tracks. 

_ Prick.  _

Breaking eye contact, he strode over to a maroon van and yanked the backdoors open with a few other men coming to stand behind him. I could just barely make out a few darkened forms inside before Dwight blocked my view and reached inside. 

"Come on! You've got people to meet!" 

To my complete surprise, he pulled Daryl out, shoving him past as a few men grabbed hold of his arms and dragged him towards where we were lined up. Following him were Michonne, Rosita, and lastly, Glenn. 

To say that Daryl looked like shit would be the understatement of the fucking year. As he stumbled into line and fell to his knees, I could see the beaten and battered state that he was in, which spiked up my anger once again. He was shivering---from pain or the cold, I couldn't tell, probably both based off of the blood seeping through the sheet wrapped around his shoulders. It was apparent that he had been shot and had lost a lot of blood from the wound. 

When he and I made eye contact, my gaze softened and I could hardly stand seeing him looking so weak. I could see him scanning me for injuries just as I had done for him seconds before but upon finding none, he focused his eyes back on mine, giving me a grim look, which I returned. 

My eyes snapped back over to the van when I heard Glenn yell Maggie's name and I scowled as I witnessed Dwight pushing him to the ground. Glenn struggled with him for a few moments before going still and I heard Maggie let out a cry from the right of me, knowing that it was killing her to see him being treated like that. 

I looked over at my friends who had just joined us kneeling on the ground, making sure that they weren't hurt like Daryl was. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, and of course looking just as shaken up as the rest of us were, they looked to be in relatively good shape, which I was thankful for. 

"Alright!" Dickhead exclaimed, strutting out in front of us. "We've got a full boat! Let's meet the man!"

_ The man? Oh fuck.  _

My breath caught in my throat for a second and I realized what he meant. He meant  _ the man,  _ as in the mother fucker who was behind  _ all of this.  _ I felt my heart hammering away in my chest as I watched him walk up to the RV and knock on it before walking away towards his companions standing behind us. 

I exchanged glances with my friends, seeing the frightened looks on their faces and we turned back to look at the door of the RV, anticipating the worst as soon as that door opened. Letting out a shuddering breath, I clenched my fists at my sides, waiting for the devil himself to emerge from the vehicle.


	2. The Man Himself.

For a few agonizing seconds, it was dead quiet and then the door slowly opened. The sound of heavy boots was heard as a tall man stepped out onto the gravel with some kind of weapon in his hand, resting over his shoulder. 

He paused for a moment, his features being shrouded in the shadows and then spoke, his tone amused and playful. 

"Pissin' our pants yet?" 

He continued forward, walking with a swagger in his step until he finally stepped into the light and he stood directly before us. 

"Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close." 

As the light shined on him, I was finally able to see what he looked like. He was definitely tall, there was no doubt about that; his hair was a dark brown, slicked back and styled in an impeccable way, which let me know that he was well cared for and most certainly had not been down on his luck at all, at least not anytime recently. He wore a pair of boots, gray jeans, a black leather jacket and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. The weapon he had over his shoulder appeared to be a wooden bat with barbed wire wrapped around it and I could see the barest traces of dried blood on it. 

But the thing that struck me most about his appearance was his facial expression. His eyes sparkled with mirth and his lips were curled up into a smirk, which immediately sent alarm bells going off in my head. The smug expression on his face was something that didn't sit right with me at all and gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

As he paced, looked down the line at each and every one of us, amusement shining in those wicked eyes of his. 

"Yeah...it's gonna be pee-pee pants city here reeeaaaallll soon." 

His eyes grazed over me, a sick smile growing on his face and continued his slow stalk, walking up and down the line like a predator watching its prey. 

"Which one of you pricks is the leader?" He demanded. 

"It's this one, he's the guy." 

I watched as he walked over slowly and came to a stop in front of Rick, gazing down at him. 

"Hi, you're Rick, right? I'm Negan." 

_ Negan. Son of a bitch. Finally, a face to a name.  _

A shiver went down my spine as I caught the look in his eye when Rick finally raised his head to look at him. The smile on his face vanished like it was never even there and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as goosebumps formed on my skin. 

"And I do not appreciate you killing my men." He continued. "Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people,  _ you killed more of my people _ !" 

Negan shook his head at Rick, in the kind of way that made it seem like he was scolding a child but what he said next greatly contrasted that. 

"Not cool...not fucking cool. You have no fucking idea how not  _ fucking  _ cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed here shortly. Yeah...you are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes."

A wicked grin slowly spread across his lips once again. 

"Fuck yeah, you are. You see Rick, whatever you do, no matter fucking what, you do not mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple, even if you're fucking stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. You ready? Here it goes, pay attention." 

The whirlwind of emotions that simmered just underneath the surface of the stoic front I was putting up was almost too much to handle as I stared up at Negan, listening to his little speech avidly. I was hardly able to withhold my facial expressions from revealing what I thought as I took in what he had to say because usually, if my mouth doesn't say it, my face most certainly will. But I knew if I allowed the mask I was wearing to slip, I might get myself into even more trouble than I already was. So, with great difficulty, I forced myself to stay as I was. 

"Give me your shit….or I will kill you. Today was career day, we invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job." 

_ Who the fuck died and made you king?  _

My mind was racing and I clenched and unbleached my fists, trying to keep myself from losing my shit because every single thing that came out of his mouth just brought me closer to the edge. 

"Now I know that is a mighty big nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly motherfucking will!" 

_ He can't be serious, can he?  _

I wasn't about to swallow shit and for a moment, I let myself slip, arching a brow at him but quickly readjusted my previous expression before anyone could notice. 

He smiled again, tilting his head slightly and stared down at Rick with an odd look in his eye that made me slightly uneasy about what he might say next. 

"You ruled the roost, you built something. You thought you were safe, I get it. But the word is out! You are not safe, not even fucking close. In fact, you are  _ fucked _ ." 

_ Well, you've made that painfully obvious.  _

"More fucked if you don't give me what I want, and what I want is half your shit and if that's too much, then you can go make, find or steal more and it'll even out sooner or later! This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be." 

_ Way of life? Yeah, okay. Whatever floats your boat, motherfucker. We'll see about that.  _

I glanced over to Sasha and Aaron, who were both looking just as disgusted and astounded as I felt as we continued to listen quietly and endured his bullshit even though it was clear none of us wanted any part of this. 

"So if someone comes to your door, you  _ fucking let us in!"  _ He was shouting now, gesturing wildly, this way and that with his free hand and the baseball bat. "We own that fucking door! You try to fucking stop us, we will fucking knock that fucker down! You understand?" 

Negan leaned down towards Rick, cupping his hand to his ear. 

"What? No answer? You don't really think you were gonna get through this without being punished, now did you? I don't wanna kill you people, just wanna make that clear from the get go. I want you to work for me and you can't do that if you're  _ fucking  _ dead, now can you?" 

He went quiet for a moment as looked around at all of us again before looking back to Rick, the ghost of a smile on his lips. 

"I'm not growing a garden. But you killed my people, a whole fucking damn shit load of 'em. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that...well for that you gotta fucking pay." 

A horrible feeling began to bubble to the surface in my mind and I anxiously anticipated his next words, fidgeting slightly as I shifted my weight from one knee to the other. For the first time since being rounded up and captured by these people, I could honestly say that I felt unsure if we were going to make it out of this in one piece. 

I looked around at my friends…the people who had become my family throughout all of this and suddenly felt fearful; worried for their safety above my own because in my book, the people I cared about were more precious to me than all the gold in the world and most definitely meant more than my own life. I would die for them. Feeling a little panicky, I shifted my gaze over to Rick and the moment we made eye contact, I knew that he was thinking the same exact thing. 

Negan speaking again brought me back to the present and I felt my blood run cold at what he said next. 

"So now…I am going to beat the  _ holy fuck fucking fuckity fuck  _ outta one of you. This," He raised the bat up for all of us to see as he stared at it with a look of complete and utter adoration in his eyes. "This is Lucille. And. She. Is. Awesome." 

_ Holy fuck, he named the bat. He named the fucking bat and has some sort of twisted emotional connection with it.  _

If I hadn't already thought he was a psycho, I most certainly did now. That just took the fucking cake for me. This guy was a raving lunatic and somebody was about to die by getting their head bashed in with a bat named Lucille. 

_ How wonderful.  _

"All this, all this just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor." 

Negan had started to pace again, looking at each of us with a smirk. He paused for a moment when he stood before Abraham, staring at him as the army veteran in question stiffened and straightened up, looking him dead in the eyes without an ounce of fear, which made me admire him that much more. 

_ Tough son of a bitch.  _

"Huh," Negan muttered, raising a hand and running his fingers over the stubble on his face before continuing. "Ugh, I gotta shave this shit." 

When his eyes met mine, I stared back coldly and unrelenting, my facial expression twisting into a scowl as I said "fuck it". 

He stopped and let out a chuckle. 

"This one's not even holding back! Really feeling the love from you! Why don't you give me a smile, darlin'? After all, it's the second best thing you can do with your lips…" He winked. 

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a scuffle as Daryl almost got up out of line to launch himself at Negan for saying such a thing to me. He was held back though as Dwight and another Savior both grabbed his arms to keep him where he was. 

"Don't touch her!" He growled, which of course made Negan snort in response and send Daryl a mocking smile as he focused his attention back on me. 

It took so much strength not to just jump up and sucker punch the smile right off his face, so instead I settled for a death glare as I held myself back, not knowing what he was capable of doing and a little afraid of the repercussions of my actions. However, I just couldn't hold my tongue anymore. 

"Screw you." I spat, causing him to laugh boisterously and scratch his chin as he gazed down at me with a thoughtful look in his eyes. 

"You hear that? She just just said 'screw you'! Right to my face! God fucking damn! You've got more balls than all the men in your group combined!" 

I growled lowly and just glared at him, opening my mouth to retort back before I saw Abraham shaking his head at me out of the corner of my eye and chose not to keep stirring the pot. I sighed, looking over at my friend apologetically and nodding. Unfortunately, this interaction didn't go unnoticed by Negan, who chuckled. 

"I'd listen to your friend, princess. Although I'm sure you have a lot more to say." 

_ Princess?!  _

Smirking, he moved on and walked away from me. I let out a silent sigh of relief as he did so, glad to be rid of him for the time being as I felt Sasha's hand come to rest on my shoulder and give it a comforting squeeze. However, my relief only lasted a couple seconds before he stopped in front of Carl. My heart rate immediately spiked and I watched Negan like a hawk. 

"You got one of our guns." 

Carl stayed quiet and kept a straight face, staring him down and I silently applauded him for being so brave. Negan knelt down to his level and got in his face, which made me clench my fists again and grind my teeth together. 

_ One wrong move, bucko. That's all it takes. Just one and it'll all be over.  _

"You got a lot of our guns," He waited for a moment but kept going once he realized Carl wasn't going to say anything. "Shit kid, lighten up. At least cry a little." 

As Carl remained silent, Negan got up and walked the line again, swinging his bat slightly as a method of intimidation. When he stopped again and I realized who he was looking at, I stiffened. 

"Jeeeeeeesuss, you look fucking  _ shiiiiitttyyy,  _ I should just put you out of your misery right now!" 

"NO! NO! NO!" 

Glenn had launched himself forward towards Negan but was quickly tackled to the ground by Dwight. As he struggled, Dwight landed a few punches to his face and I had to look away, not being able to stand seeing my friend in so much pain while Maggie sobbed and yelled at him to stop it. It made my blood boil and caused a few tears to sting in my eyes as they flooded to the surface. 

"Nope! Nope. Get him back in line." 

Dwight dragged Glenn away, forcibly pushing him back where he was as. As Maggie continued to cry, I heard Glenn letting out sounds of frustration and desperation. 

"Don't! Don't." He begged. 

I hesitantly raised my eyes from the ground, looking from Glenn's fear stricken face and then over to Negan, who had the nerve to find all of this amusing for some fucked up reason. 

"Alright listen, don't any of you do that again. I will  _ shut that shit down _ . No exceptions! First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it." 

As he said that, he pointed to Glenn and then looked over at Maggie, seeing her sobbing profusely as he quickly put two and two together. 

Everyone fell into an almost unbearable silence as we looked at one another, not knowing what to expect next. It was honestly anyone's guess now and that cold hard fact only served to dampen everyone's spirits even more than they already were. 

"Sucks, don't it? The moment you realize you don't know shit."

All of a sudden, Negan smiled again. He looked down the line towards where Carl was knelt and then back over to Rick. He gestured between the two with Lucille and realization seemed to blossom in his eyes. 

"This is your kid, right?" He questioned, addressing Rick with a grin. 

When Rick did nothing but stare up at him in panic, Negan chuckled darkly and nodded, walking towards Carl a little bit, the bat raised towards him. 

My head snapped over to look at Rick, seeing him shaking slightly in anger, looking absolutely livid. I knew right then and there that he was at his breaking point. Nobody threatened Carl and got away with it scotch free. 

" _ Fuck.  _ This is  _ definitely  _ your kid!" 

"JUST STOP THIS!" Rick snarled, looking at Negan with a murderous stare. 

"HEY!" Negan hollered, turning back to Rick. "Do not make me kill the little future serial killer! Don't make it easy on me! I  _ gotta  _ pick somebody. Eeeeeeverybody's at the table waiting for me to order…"

He started whistling and stalked up and down the line, staring at all of us with a look of contemplation in his eyes. 

"I simply cannot decide." 

Negan stopped for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face and then grinned. I swallowed thickly, not liking the look on his face at all and dreading whatever he had going on in that sick head of his. 

"I got an idea!" 

He walked forward, raising Lucille and pointing it towards Rick. 

"Eeny…" 

He moved on to Maggie. 

"Meeny…" 

Then to Abraham. 

"Miny…"

Michonne. 

"Moe…" 

Negan continued down the line, pointing the bat at each of us while reciting the childish rhyme with a smile. 

That's when it really hit me. I knew this fucker had meant business as soon as his ass left that RV but it hadn't really set it that he would actually go through with his promise. 

He was really going to kill one of us. 

Negan was going to do this just to prove a fucking point and make an example for the rest of the group to see. Just as much as it was a punishment, it was also a scare tactic. He really knew how to get underneath a person's skin and prey on their weaknesses because anybody in their right mind would do anything in order to protect and save their friends and family. 

This could very well be it. And for some strange reason, I was hoping and praying that it would be me. It was selfish, but I didn't know if I could handle seeing one of these people being killed right in front of me. I had experienced death before,  _ hell,  _ we all have since the dead started walking and the world turned to shit. But it was different this way because an actual, living and breathing person would be doing the killing. 

God, it would be like seeing Beth die all over again. 

Tears began to pool in my eyes and I looked down the line at all of my friends, knowing that this would be the last time I would see one of them alive, that is, if it wasn't me who was picked. 

Negan's voice drew me out of my thoughts as I heard him coming to the very end of the rhyme. 

  
"And...you...are… _ it."  _


	3. No Exceptions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: The following chapter contains graphic depictions of violence and gore. Major character death. Please, DO NOT read if you are squeamish or amongst the faint of heart. Viewer discretion is advised. You have been warned.

_ Abraham.  _

My breath caught in my throat and I swore that I forgot how to fucking breathe for a few painful seconds. I just really couldn't believe my eyes; I wanted so badly to leap up and demand to be chosen instead of  _ him  _ but for some reason, my vocal cords just wouldn't work. 

_ Son of a bitch, please. Not him. Not him. Not one of my most loyal friends since this all started.  _

To be fair, I wouldn't want to see anyone except for me, but knowing that it was Abraham just hit harder for me. Especially given the fact that him and Sasha had only just gotten together. 

I dared to glance over at her, only for my heart to practically break in two when I saw her tear streaked face, tears streaming down her face steadily. It absolutely killed me to see her like this. 

"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father, and then we'll start." Negan spoke, addressing both us and his men as he raised the bat upwards slowly, staring Abraham down. 

_ No. NO! Fuck, please no!  _

I was shaking now, desperately moving my head around to look at Abraham, who knelt before Negan, looking stoic as ever. He glanced over at me with a sad smile, as if to tell me that everything would be okay, but I just really couldn't see how it would be. 

His gaze then settled on Sasha, staring at her with an intense look in his eyes that I could only describe as love. He flashed her a quick peace sign before returning his focus on Negan again, regaining the composed expression he previously held and holding his head high despite the inevitable beating he was about to take. 

"You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that!" 

Like a car crash, I couldn't bring myself to look away. It was like everything was happening in slow motion as I watched Negan heaving the bat up high before swinging it heavily and bringing it down on Abraham's head. 

There was an awful crack as the wood and the barbed wire made contact with his skull and he went down. I heard both Sasha and Rosita scream and cry out, but I couldn't bring myself to utter a single word or sound from my lips, just staring in horror when I saw the blood immediately spilling from the wound inflicted on his head. 

I gasped internally when Abe slowly got back up, groaning in pain.

"Ho! Ho! Look at that! Taking it like a  _ champ!"  _

Abraham slowly looked back up at Negan with hatred in his eyes, despite the blood running down his face and how his body was shaking from the blunt force trauma. 

"Suck. My. Nuts!" He hissed. 

Negan let out a yell and brought the bat down on his head again with another sickening crack that echoed throughout the clearing. 

Abe didn't get up again. 

My friends were all either screaming and crying or rendered into complete shock like I was as he continued to bring Lucille down on Abraham. 

Again and again. 

Blood splattered all over the place, landing on the gravel in front of him and pretty much anything nearby, including Michonne and Maggie who were unfortunately situated on either side of Abe. The bat was covered in bright red blood and brain matter by now but Negan didn't stop. 

No, he didn't stop until our friend was beaten so bad to the point where he was completely unrecognizable. 

I hadn't realized that I was sobbing until now, tears rolling freely from my eyes as I shook violently, unable to accept that this wasn't some sort of fucked up dream I was having. I wished so badly that all this wasn't real, that by some chance, I would wake up any second now in a cold sweat, back in my bed in Alexandria, where all my friends and family were safe and sound, tucked away in their beds during the early hours of the morning. 

But deep down, I knew. I knew that all this was all too fucking real and that my friend was gone from this world forever. Beaten to a bloody pulp by some mad man who thought he could call all the shots now. 

"Did you hear that? He said, 'Suck my nuts'!" Negan chortled freely. 

Rage coursed through my veins as I looked up at him in outrage, not understanding how someone could possibly be so cruel. But then he surprised me even more by bringing his bat down again a few more times on the bloody mess that was Abraham's head just a few minutes ago. 

My gaze strayed away from the gore and I caught Daryl's eye. He looked just as horrified and angry as I was, if not more. Daryl may be a man of few words and rough around the edges, but he was loyal as hell when it came to family and friends, just as I was. I knew it was killing him seeing this happen to one of our own and not being able to do shit about it because I felt the same way. We were similar in the sense that we would be anything to protect the people we care about. 

"Oh my fucking god! Loooook at this!" Negan suddenly exclaimed once he walked away from pulverizing Abraham. 

He waved the bat around and as he did so, a huge splatter of the blood covering it went soaring in multiple directions and I felt a few drops of it to hit my face. I instantly felt nauseated and fought the urge to throw up everything in my stomach. 

"You guys! Look at my dirty girl!" Negan chuckled, holding an extremely blood stained Lucille up for all of us to see while chuckling darkly, a twisted grin on his face. 

To make matters worse, he strode up to Rosita, standing tall and menacingly in front of her, waving the bat in her face. 

"Sweetheart…lay your eyes on this." 

Rosita kept her eyes on the ground below her, her breath coming out in unsteady rasps, which immediately notified me that she was having a fucking panic attack. I glanced from her to Negan and then back again, my chest heaving in anger, completely beyond the realm of disbelieving at what he was doing right now. As if it hadn't been bad enough that he killed Abraham, he wanted Rosita, of all fucking people to look at the weapon covered in his blood? 

No. He was taking this way too damn far. 

Negan sighed heavily, feigning sympathy as he looked down at her. 

"Oh damn, were you….were you together? That fucking sucks. But if you were, you should know there was a reason for all of this. Red," He chuckled darkly. "And hell, he was, is and will ever be fucking red. He just took one or six or seven for the mother fucking team! So take…a damn look." 

Rosite let out a shaky breath and sobbed, still not cooperating, which seemed to piss Negan off, causing him to raise his voice and yell at her. 

"Take a god damn fucking look!" 

I exchanged a quick look with Daryl, knowing that he was on the same exact page as I was, seeing how his fists were beginning to clench at his sides and how he shook with rage. The silent communication we were able to have between one another with just our eyes was definitely something, especially in times like these. The look I sent him said loud and clear, " _ If you don't do it, I sure as hell will. _ " 

He seemed to get the message but as soon as Negan waved Lucille in front of Rosita's face again, I just completely fucking snapped. I knew Daryl had every intention of doing it himself, but I couldn't take seeing someone else take the fall. 

Not again. Never. 

I leapt up to my feet and threw myself at Negan, knocking him in the shoulder and causing him to turn around to face me in surprise. As he did so, my fist connected with his face, which made him stumble back a few paces, holding his nose. 

"You fucking son of a bitch!" I yelled, preparing to punch him again. 

However, before I could launch myself at him again, a sudden weight slammed into me, knocking me flat on my ass as Dwight hovered over me, pointing Daryl's crossbow directly in my face while another Savior held my arms above my head. 

"Y/N!" Daryl shouted, about to get up and come to my aid, only to be held back by two more of Negan's goons. 

"Let her go!" Rick hollered as several of my friends let out yells and gasps of their own. 

Everyone stared in horror as Dwight and the other man wrestled me to my feet, with lots of struggling on my part before bringing me over to Negan. One of them sent a swift kick to the back of the legs, forcing me back down to my knees between the three men. 

"No! Oh fuck no." Negan laughed, leaning down to get in my face. "That? Oh my! That, is a big fucking no-no. Regardless if you're a woman or not. Because believe me, I don't like hurting women. But that whole thing...not one bit of that shit flies here." 

I breathed heavily and looked at Negan with hatred in my eyes, letting out a pained yelp when I felt someone pull my hair back with a hard yank to my scalp. I heard my friends crying in fear behind me, knowing they were afraid to lose me. 

"Do you want me to do it? Right here?" Dwight snarled, making me aware that he was probably aiming to shoot me in the back of the head with one of the arrows. 

"NO!" Daryl yelled desperately, struggling to break free. 

Negan looked at me and I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head, before he smiled sinisterly and glanced up at Dwight with a shake of his head, causing me to tilt my head slightly in confusion. 

"No. No, you don't kill them...not until you try a little." 

I clenched my jaw, wanting to smack that fucking grin off his face and as I lashed out again, Dwight caught my arm, preventing me from doing so. Negan got back up from his crouched position in front of me as Dwight and the other man seized hold of me again, pulling me back to my spot between Rick and Sasha. 

I let out a yell of frustration, wishing nothing more than to get a hold of Lucille and using it on Negan himself so he could get a taste of his own medicine. As I was shoved back down unceremoniously to the ground between my friends, they both looked at me in concern, taking in my battered state, but also wary of what Negan could possibly have planned next. I could feel Dwight's presence stationed behind me as he made sure I didn't get up again. 

"And anyway...that's just not how it fucking works. Now, I already told you people, first one's free. Then what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions!" 

He walked towards the other end of the line while still glancing back and forth between Rick and I. 

"Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with…but I'm a man of my fucking word. First impressions are important. I need you to know me. So...back to it!" 

What he did next paled in comparison to what he could have possibly done to me. Mostly because we weren't expecting it. The world came to a shuddering stop and I couldn't stop the horrified gasp from leaving my lips. 

Hell,  _ everyone  _ fucking gasped. Because nobody knew it was coming. 

Negan swung the bat around and nailed Glenn in the head, knocking him face first onto the gravel. 

No.  _ Oh fuck no.  _ This can’t be happening. Not Glenn. 

The bat was brought down again. 

Maggie was screaming and once again, I had tears rolling down my face for the second time that fateful evening. 

"NO!" Maggie sobbed, her cries echoing painfully in my ears as I came to an awful realization. 

This was  _ my fault.  _ All of this could have been prevented if I hadn't gotten up and punched that fucker in the face. Maggie was going to hate me and honestly, I really couldn't even blame her for it after this. To be honest, I wouldn't even be surprised if everyone hated me after this. 

_ I hated me.  _

Negan paused in his assault, looking down at Glenn, beaten and bloody, groaning and spluttering on the ground in a heap as blood oozed from his head. When he finally raised his head slowly, I choked back a sob as I realized that one of his eyes was bulging out of his head. 

"Buddy, you still there?" Negan questioned in a taunting voice as he leaned down a bit, looking at Glenn. 

Glenn gurgled and spat up some more blood as it was no doubt filling his mouth from the wound. 

"I just don't fucking know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so fucking hard, your eyeball just popped out! And it is gross as fuck!" 

Glenn focused his gaze on Maggie, shuddering from the trauma he just took to the head. 

"Maggie, I'll find you." He choked out, blood leaking from his lips. 

Everyone was sobbing now, not being able to take seeing Glenn like this. It was one thing to see Abraham getting beaten down to nothing, but now Glenn too? It was too fucking much to handle and I couldn't even begin to imagine how Maggie must feel right now, seeing her husband---the father of her unborn child dying right in front of her. 

My heart broke and in that moment, I knew I would never forgive myself for this. 

Negan took a few steps back and had the nerve...the fucking audacity to fake a look of sympathy once again, his facial expression softening. 

_ Rat fucking bastard. I'll kill him.  _

"Oh. Oh, hell. I can see this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it…" He suddenly perked up with a little grin. "No exceptions!" 

And just like that, he was back at it again, sending a sweeping blow to Glenn's head, making him fall forward from the sheer force of the swing. 

I shook my head and had to look away this time, only for my hair to be yanked back as Dwight brought his lips down to my ear. 

"Keep watching." He hissed, turning my head back towards the scene as I cried out, tears blurring my vision as I reluctantly obeyed, not wanting to be the reason someone else got hurt. 

For a brief moment, I caught Daryl's eye again when I looked over, seeing him staring at me with an indescribable amount of sadness in his eyes. 

_ "It's not your fault."  _ He mouthed, before I looked beyond him and towards Negan beating Glenn's head in with Lucille. 

Dwight kept my head still as I was forced to watch yet another one of my friends being beaten to death and I couldn’t help but sob as I did so, knowing for sure that no matter what anybody said, the blame was on me. 

Glenn very soon became motionless on the ground and I knew he was gone. Yet, Negan was relentless, just as he had been when he killed Abraham. 

He just didn't stop. He continued to hit Glenn, landing blow after blow on his head, until nothing was fucking left and he was just as unrecognizable as Abraham. 

It was painful to watch and even more painful to hear Maggie’s heart wrenching sobs as she convulsed on the ground. 

"You buncha pussies! I'm just getting started!" 

Negan eventually came to a stop and let out a laugh, turning to face all of us again, his silhouette outlined by the light of the headlights shining behind him. He held the bat at this side, which was bloodied beyond belief with guts and skin stuck to the barbed wire as it swayed in time with Negan’s steps as he walked towards the line again. 

“Lucille is thirsty! She’s a vampire bat!” 

It was completely silent, save the heavy breathing and cries from our group. I felt slightly relieved as Dwight finally released his painful grip in my hair, falling forward a little before regaining my posture and rising up again. 

“What, was the joke that bad?”

The silence continued and I shakily turned to gaze over at Rick.

I can honestly say that this was the first time I had ever seen him look so weak and hopeless, looking like the mere shell of the man he was just a few hours ago. He looked so broken and at a loss, almost like he was a completely different person compared to the Rick Grimes I knew and loved. And I hated it. I hated to see him with tears in his eyes and the defeated look on his face. This wasn’t him and I blamed it all on the mother fucker standing before us. 

After a few beats, Rick surprised everyone by breaking his silence. 

“I’m gonna kill you.” He said hoarsely. 

The crunching of gravel was heard before Negan stopped in front of Rick, bending down to his level while holding that fucking bat up to his face. 

“What? I didn’t quite catch that, you’re gonna have to speak up.” 

Rick let out a heavy breath, like he had been holding it for a while before continuing, raising his eyes from the ground to stare Negan right in the face. 

“Not today, not tomorrow...but I’m gonna kill you.” Rick said with a dangerous look in his eyes, which I knew all too well. 

  
He meant business. When Rick Grimes said he would do something, he fucking did it and I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that he would follow through with it. Because it wasn’t a threat. Oh no, it was a  _ promise. _


End file.
